A Battle of Wits and Wills
by redheadedfervor
Summary: Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley's lives were going along great! With their wedding just a day away, they couldn't have been happier. Enter Romilda Vane. Suddenly their whole world is turned upside down! Everything in Harry's life is the completely opposite of what it was. Ron and Hermione aren't together, he's not an Auror, and worst of all Ginny absolutely loathes him...
1. The Prologue

Each tick of the clock was a cavernous echo in Harry Potter's ears. He wanted the workday to be over.

He was attempting to pay attention to the meeting, he really was. But as he had personally collected most of the information being presented to the department, he found his mind wandering to a certain redheaded witch. Currently, he was reminiscing in the memory of what had happened that morning.

Instead of the jarring sound of his alarm clock charm, he was gently pulled from his slumber by the sweet, and warm kisses of his fiancée. Waking up to find her next to him was one of the many reasons he was so keen to marry the youngest Weasley. In two days time, they would be husband and wife, and Harry couldn't think of anything else he had ever wanted more.

He'd felt a tickle on his neck, and opened his eyes to find Ginny leaving a trail of kisses along it, as she slowly worked her way up to his lips.

Without stopping her work, her eyes looked up at him, and a mischievous grin appeared. She moved to kiss his right cheek.

"It's about time Mr. Sleepyhead, I was beginning to think you would never wake." She moved to kiss his left cheek. Then she kissed his right ear, followed by his left, biting the lobe ever so slightly as she pulled away. She was well aware that this little action drove him absolutely mad. Which, he gathered by look she had on, was precisely what she intended to do. Harry loved that look, it always meant that great fun was about to be had.

"Well I'm most certainly awake now," he'd said, wrapping his arms around her. Not wanting to be teased any longer he took the initiative to catch her lips in a long, hard kiss. He pulled away, and was thoroughly satisfied with the way Ginny's cheeks were flushed.

"Goood morning Mr. Potter!"

"Goooood morning future Mrs. Potter!" he returned with a smile.

"Mmmm, I like the sound of that, I think I'll like it even more when I get to wear it on the back of my Harpies jersey in a fortnight," she said nuzzling into his chest.

They laid in bed holding each other in comfortable silence for a few minutes, before Ginny spoke again.

"Do you really have to go to work today?" she whined.

"As much as I wish I could say no I don't have to, Robards is insistent upon my presence," Harry answered begrudgingly.

"It's just that this is our last day together before we're old and married," she pouted. "Not to mention that we have to spend tonight apart. With all the traveling we both do, it seems a tragedy to spend a night away from each other when we're going to be in the same part of the country and all because of a silly wedding."

"Yes, but it's our silly wedding. I'm not looking forward to being away from you either, but it's tradition, and if we don't your mum will throw a wobbly."

"Just one of the many," Ginny interjected, "Honestly, I'm the ruddy bride and she's the one having kittens about the flower arrangements and the colour of the bloody napkins!"

"She just wants it to nice for us, you especially," he reasoned, affectionately kissing the top of her head.

"I know she does, and I know I only make it worse because I could really care less about wedding things. I'm just not one of those girls."

"Ginny, are you sure you still want to go through with this madness?" he asked tentatively.

Ginny gave him a look that told him he was being ridiculous. Even after four long years together, he still wondered why she'd chosen him apart from all the other blokes out there. Of course he was pleased that she had, and as always, she swiftly silenced all of his self doubts.

"Of course I am Harry. Because despite all of the chaos that will most assuredly ensue tomorrow, at the end of it I get you, forever. That alone is worth all the madness in the world," She said determinedly, with an assuring smile.

Immediately he was filled with warmth.

"Merlin, I love you," Harry told Ginny.

"I know you do, but since you're abandoning me today for paperwork and stupid meetings, I'm going to need you to prove to me just how much. You've got just under two hours before you have to leave for the ministry, I suggest you get started," she said cheekily.

And prove to her, he had. Four times over. He'd been late to work and had received a slight lecture from Robards about the importance of being prompt. But it had been well worth that extra twenty minutes he'd spent with Ginny.

"Potter? Potter!"

Ron, who was seated next to him, elbowed Harry in ribs.

"Oh, er sorry. Yes, because of the lack of security at that time of night, 2 AM will be the most effective time for the raid. It will lend us the element of surprise," he stammered.

"Very good. Now, Weasley," Robards turned to address Ron, "while Potter is on holiday, you'll be taking over the surveillance. I want a detailed report on each night, if any of the guards so much as scratch their arses, I want to know which cheek and for how long. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir," Ron said, sounding less than enthusiastic.

Harry leaned over, and whispered to him.

"Sorry you have to take over for me mate."

"It's fine, it's a part of the job. I just wish you weren't going to be gone for a whole week. You sure you can't convince Ginny to take a three day honeymoon?" Ron said hopefully. Harry raised his eyebrows.

"Would you like to try and convince your sister, who has been planning our honeymoon since the moment I proposed, that my time would be better spent watching some buffoon pick his nose all night?"

Ron shook his head.

"I guess I'll just have to enjoy watching the idiot guards scratching their arses and digging for bogies all on my own. What fun!" he conceded sarcastically. Harry chuckled.

Robards was finishing up the meeting. Harry was fidgeting anxiously, all that stood between him and the end of the day was a small stack of paperwork on his desk. He wanted to get it over and done with so he could go home a bit early. That way he'd be able to spend a little more time alone with Ginny before their pre-wedding dinner at the Burrow.

"Now one final order of business, as you all know our own Mr. Potter is getting married tomorrow evening. So, we thought it might be nice to have a little congratulatory celebration!" Robards said cheerily, and with a flick of his wand a banner that read 'Congratulations Harry and Ginny!' appeared over the meeting desk. The other Aurors cheered.

"Sir, thank you. As much as I appreciate this, you didn't have to go to the trouble," Harry protested, partly because he didn't want the attention, and partly because he knew that this little party meant he wouldn't be getting home early.

"Nonsense Potter, it's not everyday the Boy-Who-Lived gets hitched. I hope you don't mind but I took the liberty of inviting your betrothed to celebrate with us. She should be arriving at any moment. Why don't you and Weasley go and fetch her from the atrium?"

"I'd be more more than happy to," Harry said, taking some comfort in knowing that even though he wouldn't get be alone with Ginny, he'd still get to spend more time with her.

Five minutes later he and Ron were waiting in the corridor in front of the lift.

"So mate, you sure you're ready for tomorrow?" Ron asked.

"Dunno, I don't really fancy weddings, and with everyone who's been invited, it's certainly going to be interesting to see how it all turns out," he answered.

"Yeah mum did go a bit overboard with invitations didn't she?" Ron observed.

"A bit. But honestly, I don't care what happens. As long as by the end the day I'm married to Ginny, I'll be happy. I know I'm more than ready for that," Harry answered.

"Well I'm happy for you, but remember that just because you're going to be married now, it doesn't mean you're allowed to snog...or anything else...in front of me. I can't handle another incident like last Christmas," Ron warned. Harry laughed.

"Hermione warned you! You saw the sock on the door, and yet you still came in, that was entirely your own fault! I have no sympathy for you."

"I was distraught! I thought my sister was in trouble because of the racket she was making! You should have had the decency to cast a silencing charm!" he protested.

Just then a feminine voice said "Department of Magical Law Enforcement", announcing the arrival of the lift.

The door slid open and standing inside was someone Harry had no desire whatsoever to ride in a lift with. Romilda Vane.

In fact, if he never had to speak to or see her again for the rest of his days he would not be sorry. As soon as she spotted him, her face lit up. With the reflexes of a cat, she managed to pull him into the lift and push Ron, who was just beginning to step in, out.

"You can get the next one Weasley!" she said to Ron. He began to protest, but with a flick of her wand the doors shut in his face. Harry was now trapped with her. He wondered how it was that she always managed to trap him.

Romilda always had some sort of mad idea that somehow, someday he would leave Ginny for her. Romilda had fancied him since they were at Hogwarts, and unfortunately she had never outgrown her crush. It had actually gotten worse as they'd aged.

The further Harry and Ginny got in their relationship, Romilda became increasingly more mental about her feelings for him. She was, in every sense of the word, totally and completely nutters.

When Harry and Ginny had moved in together, it became Romilda's life ambition to become Ginny's best friend. Which Harry found very bizarre and unsettling, considering that he knew Romilda loathed Ginny.

For a while, Romilda followed Ginny everywhere. To and from all of her matches and practices, she'd wait for hours outside the changing rooms , and would often bring her lunch out of the blue. (Which Harry had warned Ginny never to eat, in case it was poisoned.)

At first Ginny thought it was amusing, especially because it worried Harry so much. He didn't trust Romilda in the slightest. For Merlin's sake Ron had nearly died in one of her lovesick attempts to ensnare him!

Once, Ginny had even invited Romilda to dinner at their flat. Harry and Ginny had been having a row, and when Ginny was angry she was not a woman to be trifled with. Harry knew she'd invited Romilda out of spite. She wanted to watch him squirm with discomfort, and squirm he did.

But then a week after, Harry had come home on his lunch hour to have a kip, since he'd been up all night chasing a Death Eater all over Sheffield. When he awoke there was someone in the bed with him, an arm wrapped around his middle. Thinking it was Ginny, he turned over to give her a kiss, but found Romilda staring at him expectantly instead. In a panic, he fell off the bed and managed to break his foot in the process.

Ginny came home right at that moment, to find Harry on the floor, ghost-white, howling in pain, and Romilda in their bed, still underneath the duvet.

"What the bloody hell is going on in here?" Ginny had demanded.

"I came home for a kip, and when I woke up she was in bed with me! I freaked out, fell off the bed, and now I think I've broken my foot! I don't even know how she got in!" Harry explained. Harry saw Ginny's face harden, she was no longer amused, she was now thoroughly pissed off, again not a woman to be trifled with.

"Get your sodding arse out of my bed," there was venom in Ginny's voice.

Romilda did as she was told, and as soon as she was standing Ginny hit her square in the face with one of the most powerful bat-bogey hexes Harry had ever seen. She then proceeded to chase Romilda out of their flat, slamming the door behind her, but not before casting a jelly legs jinx in her. Which made it next to impossible for Romilda to escape her slimy winged assailants.

Ginny had apologised profusely to Harry, mended his foot, and demanded that first thing in the morning he put up new wards at their flat and then go straight to the ministry to get a magical restraining order on placed on Romilda. Which he'd gladly done.

Aside from a bogus story Romilda had given to Rita Skeeter after they'd announced their engagement, about being pregnant with Harry's love child , they hadn't heard from or seen her since.

Which was why Harry was so shocked to find himself alone in a lift with her now. The restraining charm should have prevented this from being even being possible.

"Hello darling," Romilda said moving closer to him.

"Romilda please don't come any closer," Harry said sternly, as he silently willed the lift to move faster. Although a moment later he was wishing the opposite, because it had taken a very hard jerk to the left and Romilda had taken full advantage of it, 'accidentally' falling into him. Her arms were now around his neck. He tried to pry her off, but she had a death grip on him.

"So Harry, have you missed me?" she said to him.

"Erm- no actually I haven't. Please stop that," Harry plead as she began running her hands through his hair.

"Oh I know you're only saying that because of the redheaded slag. But you don't really mean it, do you my little puppy-face?" she whispered eerily into his ear.

"Firstly, don't call Ginny a slag. Secondly, I am not your little puppy face! And thirdly, how many times do I have to tell you!? I am, always have been, and always will be madly in love with Ginny Weasley," Harry said as he finally wriggled out of Romilda's grasp.

Her lips twisted into an evil grin.

"Well that may be how you feel now, but I know that will change very soon," said Romilda.

"No! That will never change no matter what you do," Harry shouted angrily.

"We'll see Harry, we'll see," she said as she pulled a bottle of perfume out of her handbag.

"No, we won't see-" Harry began, but he never finished because Romilda had sprayed him right in the face with her perfume. He coughed in surprise, but then he couldn't stop coughing. He coughed and coughed, until his eyes watered. He couldn't breathe, and he began to get very dizzy. He staggered and fell to the floor of the lift. His vision was blurred, but just before it all went black he saw Romilda, lips pursed for a kiss, leaning toward him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry awoke with a pounding headache. It took a moment, but he recognised his surroundings. He was at St. Mungo's.

"Mr. Potter, it's good to see you awake. That was quite a bump on the head you had," a woman with grey hair, standing in the corner of the room said to him.

"Sorry," he croaked groggily, "but who are you?"

"My name is Healer Blackthorn, I'm treating your concussion. Stay put, I'll go get your fiancée. She'll want to know you're awake. She's been sick with worry," the woman said.

Harry nodded, he didn't really know why she had asked him to stay put. It wasn't as if he was going to run away given the way his head felt. A few moments Healer Blackthorn returned with a woman. She had long dark hair, with eyes to match, and he couldn't help but notice that she was quite busty.

"Romilda?" said Harry.

"Oh poopsie! You've had me so worried! Don't you ever scare me like that ever again, or I might decide not to marry you!" she said dramatically as she threw her arms around him, and began kissing his face.

Though it was a bit foggy, he suddenly remembered, he was engaged to Romilda Vane.


	2. Harry's Reawakening

**Author's note: **Someone keeps reviewing as a guest saying that they've read this story somewhere else, which they very well might have, as I have also posted this story on SIYE under the same pen name. However, they said that they've read another chapter where Harry is at the Burrow...which is strange because Harry doesn't go to to the Burrow in the next chapter, I should know I've been writing it. I guarantee that this plot is entirely my own, characters aren't but it's fanfiction you know that, however, if someone else has posted this story as something else, as someone else please let me know where to find that. I don't want someone using my plot, at least not without my permission. Cheers!

The last few hours of Harry Potter's life had been interesting to say the least. He'd awoken in St. Mungo's, with a nasty headache and a fuzzy memory of what had happened. In fact, he'd awoken with a fuzzy memory altogether. Not that he didn't remember anything, he did. But, the memories of his life were just not as clear as they usually were.

Healer Blackthorn had informed him that this was completely normal with head injuries, and that it should only be a temporary symptom. She'd given him a potion to help with the pain, and told him that they'd be keeping him overnight for observation, but that he could most likely go home in the morning.

Romilda stayed by his side, she'd actually crawled into his hospital bed with him. She laid next to him, stroking his hair, and telling him all about which colour she'd decided on for the napkins at their wedding. She prattled on about the difference between sandpaper beige and cheesecake beige, and as he normally did when she began these sort of conversations, he drifted off.

About an hour later he was awoken by some of his teammates from the Appleby Arrows who had arrived to see that he was alright. They also came to inform him that after he'd been knocked out by a bludger, they'd still lost to the Holyhead Harpies in the match. The Harpies' seeker was second in the league next to Harry, so his reserve didn't stand a chance. She caught the snitch a mere three minutes after Harry had been carried off the pitch, apparently.

But, the loss wasn't the strangest thing about the visit from his teammates, it wasn't until he saw them walk through the door of his hospital room, that he'd even remembered he was a professional Quidditch player. It was like he had to be reminded before the memory returned to him, just like it had when he'd first seen Romilda.

He was a bit worried, because Quidditch and Romilda were probably the two most important things in his life. How could he forget about them? After asking her yet again, Healer Blackthorn assured him that some foggy memories were very standard and that he shouldn't worry. So he tried to put his mind at ease.

He felt awful, the potion the Healer had given him had relieved some of the pain, but it didn't make it disappear completely. He felt achy and groggy, and having Romilda constantly draped over him wasn't helping matters. He loved her, but he was getting a bit annoyed. So after about an hour of convincing, he got her to head back to their flat for the night so he could rest.

With his bed to himself, Harry was finally able to relax. Well, at least he was until Hermione walked, or waddled rather, into his room. He was glad to see her of course, but when he caught sight of her enormously pregnant belly his jaw dropped in shock.

"Harry, you're awake and alright! Thank Merlin!" she said as she neared his bedside.

It had taken a moment, but again, his memory of Hermione's pregnancy came back to him. She and her husband, Viktor Krum were expecting their first child, due any day.

"I was listening to the match on the wireless, and when I heard you fell off your broom after a bludger collided with your head, I was so...well I'm just glad you're alright," she said with relief, "where's Romilda, I expected she'd be here?"

"Oh, I sent her home, she-uh looked like she could use some rest. Hermione, I appreciate the gesture, but you didn't have to come all the way down here. I hope it wasn't too much trouble, you know, in your condition," said Harry, nodding to her bump.

"For goodness sake Harry, I'm pregnant, not an invalid! If my best friend is in hospital, damn the discomfort, I'm going to see that he's okay," Hermione said with a roll of her eyes.

As Harry was trying not to laugh at Hermione attempting to lower herself into the chair next to his bed, Ron arrived. He walked in the room and when he set eyes on Hermione, he expression hardened. Hermione's expression changed as well, and Harry could feel the tension hanging in the room.

"Oh, hey Harry. Good to see you aren't too banged up... I didn't know you were going to be here, Hermione," Ron said, determinedly keeping eye contact with the tiles on the floor.

"Well, he is my best friend too, Ronald," Hermione said coldly.

"I know that," Ron retorted, "I just didn't expect you to be here so late."

"When you have to travel the muggle way, and you have a person growing inside you, it takes a bit longer to get from point A to point B. Believe me, it's not a happy surprise for me either to see you here," she snapped. Ron glared at her.

For the first time all day, Harry was not happy that a memory had returned to him. Ron and Hermione were no longer on what you would call speaking terms. In actuality, this was the first time in almost a year that he'd been in the same room with them both. A long, complicated, and sad history had come back to him in a flash.

In all the years Harry was friends with Ron and Hermione, he'd always thought that eventually they'd end up together. Almost everybody did. Harry knew they loved each other, but for some reason, perhaps because neither ever acted on their feelings, nothing happened.

The break in their friendship started when Hermione began dating Viktor again. Ron didn't speak to her for weeks. He drowned himself in Firewhiskey on multiple occasions in the Leaky Cauldron, and made Harry listen to tirades about Krum that made the ones from their fourth year look like warm and fuzzy thoughts. But, eventually Ron came around, and was really making an effort to mend his friendship with Hermione. He was the most caring and thoughtful that Harry had ever seen him. Then Viktor proposed. Ron locked himself in his flat for a whole week.

Hermione didn't say yes immediately, it took her almost a month. Harry suspected she was waiting to see if maybe Ron would dash in, and finally confess his feelings for her. But he didn't, and so she agreed to become Mrs. Viktor Krum.

Harry went to see Ron to try to talk to him, but he only said one thing.

"There was another ball Harry, she warned me. I was supposed to get up the courage to ask her...before-before somebody else did. I-I didn't listen."

Ron took the cake for the most emotional person Harry knew, but that day he wasn't angry, or sad, or even in denial, he was just numb, empty, and broken. It had scared the hell out of Harry to see him like that, he didn't know what to do.

Mr. Weasley and Bill somehow convinced him that he might need a holiday, so Ron went to visit Charlie in Romania. He was gone for the next six months. Harry didn't know if he'd ever come back, which was why he was so surprised to see Ron turn up at Hermione's wedding.

Harry, Neville, Luna, his family, and practically everyone who had known Ron and Hermione at Hogwarts asked him what he was doing there, and he gave them all the same answer with a shrug of the shoulders:

"I was invited."

When the wedding began, Harry was half expecting Ron to object when they were asked if 'anyone had any reason as why these two should not be joined in matrimony?'. He even thought he saw Hermione's eyes flick over at Ron, but Ron chose to forever hold his peace and said nothing.

The Ron that was void of emotion disappeared however, after the ceremony. He proceeded to get absolutely pissed. He stayed as far away from Hermione and Viktor as he could. By the end of the evening, it was like a repeat from their sixth year, because Ron was snogging Lavender Brown like an eel in front of the entire reception. Lavender was there because she was covering the wedding of Viktor Krum for Witch Weekly, as she was now a writer for it. Her desire for Ron looked as though it hadn't dissipated. They ended up leaving together.

About a month later, while Hermione and Viktor were settling happily into their marriage, it didn't get any easier for Ron as he was blindsided by some new information. Apparently, Ron and Lavender's activities from the night of the wedding had result in an unexpected consequence, pregnancy.

While Molly Weasley was furious with him, for conceiving out of wedlock. But for the first time in a long time, Ron looked truly happy. He had a purpose again, and Harry could see that he was very excited to become a father. Ron and Lavender began a relationship that was very real, even if it had started as a one night stand. After six months, they were married. Things looked as though they were turning around, for Harry's best mate.

But, then something terrible happened. Their son was stillborn. Ron was crushed, he tried to hold it together to be there for Lavender, but didn't manage for long. Of all the funerals Harry had been to, the one for Ron's infant son had been the saddest. Ron sobbed like a child, and Lavender wept silently, both were completely heart broken.

After, Ron pulled away from everyone, including Lavender. He bore himself into his work at the joke shop with George. He came home late and left early in the morning. Leaving Lavender feeling abandoned. Their marriage went south very quickly. It had been a little over a year since, and though he had improved a bit, Ron was not the same man.

Harry couldn't imagine that seeing Hermione pregnant, was a pleasant sight for him. Harry could saw Ron's defensive wall come up the moment he set eyes on Hermione. Harry didn't want a fight to start, he was just glad to see his friends, so he decided to ask them something no one had bothered to tell him today, hoping it would distract them from their mutual dislike for one another.

"Well, I really, really appreciate you both coming. It means a lot to me, to have you here. Erm...so since I can't remember a thing, any ideas on who hit the bludger at me?" Harry said quickly. They looked at him strangely.

"You really don't remember who did it, mate?" Ron asked.

"No, not a clue. To tell you the truth, I don't remember the match at all," admitted Harry, with a shrug.

"Harry it was-" Hermione began, but she was interrupted by shouting in the corridors.

"GINEVERA MOLLY WEASLEY, YOU HAD BETTER GET IN THERE AND APOLOGISE THIS INSTANT!"

"Why should I?! I'm not the least bit sorry for what I did, even if I did get suspended! He deserved what he got! It's not like I killed him!"

"IT DOES NOT MATTER WHAT HE SAID, YOU KNOCKED HIM UNCONSCIOUS, THERE'S NO EXCUSE FOR THAT, YOUNG LADY! YOU COULD HAVE DAMAGED HIS BRAIN! HE IS A MEMBER OF THIS FAMILY, AND YOU WILL APOLOGISE!"

"Oh Mum! I did not damage his brain, he's managed to do that all on his own-"

"GET IN THERE NOW!"

There was a loud growl of frustration, and the sound of stomping feet pounding down the corridor. A moment later, Ginny Weasley, looking disgusted and red with fury was standing in the doorway. Mrs. Weasley followed her in. Ginny blew a long strand of her hair out of her face, and took a deep breath before looking at Harry, there were daggers in her eyes. Seeing her look at him like this now, brought his mind back to what had happened on the pitch earlier. It now made sense, as to why Ron and Hermione had thought it odd he didn't have an idea of who had hit him, because the answer was quite obvious.

Harry and Ginny did not get on, in fact they practically despised each other. They hadn't been friendly with each other since the beginning of Harry's sixth year and Ginny's fifth. During the summer before that year, Harry and Ginny had grown closer than they ever had been before. Things drastically changed however, the night Gryffindor had won the House Cup.

That was the night Harry and Romilda had started dating. Romilda had raced toward him the moment after he's stepped through the portrait hole (he'd been in detention and didn't know if Gryffindor had won or not). When she had reached him, she'd kissed him in front of the entire common room. It had been one of Harry's favorite memories ever since.

But after Harry and Romilda became an official couple, suddenly, Ginny wouldn't speak to him. Eventually he had worked out that she was probably jealous of Romilda, and it was confirmed when Romilda overheard Ginny talking to Luna about it. From then on Ginny was extremely rude to both Harry and Romilda. After a while Harry got tired of it, so he began to make rude jabs back at her. The insults started out small, but grew larger and larger as time went on. Thus began the rivalry.

It was put on hiatus however, (as was his relationship with Romilda, for fear Voldemort would use her to get to Harry) during the following year, when Harry had gone after the horcruxes. But once Voldemort was gone, things went back to where they had been before he'd left.

It started with the insults, and then the pranks began. The first happened on Romilda's birthday. Harry had packed a picnic for them to share under a tree near the Burrow. He left the basket unattended for a moment, and Ginny managed to slip puking pastilles into a box of candy hearts Harry planned to give to the birthday girl. Romilda had eaten the whole box of sweets before the effects started. She vomited for two and a half hours straight. Harry soon retaliated by waiting until he heard Ginny get into the shower. He then charmed her wardrobe at the Burrow so that it wouldn't let Ginny touch any of her clothes, let alone put them one. It took three days before her clothes stopped running away from her. The Weasley family eventually began taking bets on whether it would be Harry or Ginny facing the next hysterical embarrassment.

When Ginny was recruited for the Harpies, and Harry for the Arrows the stakes were raised. Both teams were struggling when they had signed on, but it wasn't long before Harry and Ginny were leading their teams to victory after victory. During the weeks leading up to their first match against each other, there was quite a bit of trash talking done by both parties in the press. The Harpies/Arrows match quickly became the most anticipated match of the season, and of every season since.

It was very unique for a Seeker and a Chaser to have such a rivalry against each other, as normally the two positions had little to do with each other. But, with Harry and Ginny on the pitch, Quidditch was a whole new game. If Ginny were going to score, Harry would pull a Wronski Feint and make sure that he did it directly in Ginny's path of flight. If Harry were chasing the snitch, Ginny would go out of her way to make it extra difficult for him to catch it, by flying into him 'accidentally'. They challenged each other with ferocious passion. The outcome of Harpies/Arrows matches were never set in stone, the win was always dependent on who finally beat the other between Harry and Ginny.

Today's match hadn't been any different. But today, Ginny had been on her game, she was playing better than Harry had ever seen, and it had started to frustrate him. She had foiled three of his attempts to catch the snitch, and he hadn't managed to prevent her from making any goals.

After she had stopped him another two times, he began get to angry. He quickly completely abandoned looking for the snitch, which did not please his captain, and had devoted himself to derailing Ginny. The harder he tried, the easier it appeared for her to avoid him. Finally, after she had scored her tenth goal of the match, in which she had used an amazing aerial turn to avoid Harry, he'd had enough! His face was hot with rage.

"Come on Potter!" she'd taunted, "Here I thought I going up against the greatest Seeker in the league, but it turns out I'm playing a three year old on his training broom! You're making this too easy for me!"

His reply was something he now deeply regretted.

"Maybe I'm trying to make it easy for you Weasley, since it's obvious you're in love with me. I'm going to be a married man soon, and I don't want you to go pouring your sad little heart out into another dark wizard's diary! Your pathetic lovesickness might very well start another war!"

He'd barely had time to smirk, before the bludger came barreling toward his head, and everything went black.

He began to feel a pang of deep guilt fill his stomach. Harry couldn't believe those words had come out of his mouth. What happened in the Chamber and with Riddle's diary changed Ginny, and not in a pleasant way. It had affected Harry too, he knew better than anyone what it was like to have Voldemort in your head, and to use that against her in a petty remark...he was disgusted with himself.

"So, you're not a vegetable, you're not brain dead as my mother seems to think," Ginny said bitterly.

"No, not really," he said nauseously.

"See mum."

"Get on with it Ginny!"

"I have been informed that if I do not apologise to you for what happened on the pitch today, that I will be disowned from my family. So, in light of that...I suppose...that I am...sorry...that you were hurt...by the bludger I sent speeding toward your gargantuan head," she said to him, with a look on her face that said she wished she had another bat and bludger at her disposal.

Harry felt awful, having her look at him like that. She'd looked at him with disgust before, and it was generally their policy that neither ever apologised for anything they said to each other. Mrs. Weasley was obviously forcing her, and he knew that she was not really sorry.

"Ginny, please, you don't have to apologise. You're right I deserved it, and probably something a lot worse for what I said. I, of all people, had no right. If anyone should be sorry, it's me, and I am. From the bottom of my heart, I truly apologise Ginny," Harry said with as much sincerity as he could muster, because he really did mean it.

Her expression changed from anger to surprise very quickly. Ron, Hermione, and Mrs. Weasley all looked equally flabbergasted at his words. Harry sincerely apologising for something he had said to Ginny, was certainly out of the norm.

"Th-thanks?" Ginny said looking at him like he was mad.

"Honeysuckle!" shrieked a voice. It was Romilda, apparently she had returned, she pushed past Ginny and Mrs. Weasley, glaring as she went.

"Did I just hear you apologising to the HER! What on earth would possess you to do that!? She put you in hospital! How did she even get in!? Security shouldn't have let her past! She's clearly got some sick obsession with you!"

Harry swore he saw Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Mrs. Weasley simultaneously roll their eyes.

"Romilda, she deserves an apology for what I said," Harry protested.

"Just look at the way she's staring at you, like she wants you!"

"Well, it's been...odd, Harry. But that's my cue to leave, have a nice life," Ginny said with a raised eyebrow, before leaving quickly. Harry watched her, and for the first time, well ever, he felt sad to see her go.

Ron and Mrs. Weasley bade their goodbyes and wishes for his good health to Harry shortly after Ginny had gone. Hermione waited for her cab to arrive, made Harry promise that they'd meet for lunch later that week, and then she left too.

Romilda remained, and no matter how hard Harry tried to get her to go home, she vowed she wouldn't leave for fear that Ginny might return to finish the job, and kill Harry in his sleep. So she stayed, but he did manage to get her to sleep on the camp bed that Healer Blackthorn had conjured for her.

Eventually, Harry nodded off into a deep sleep. It was very peaceful for a while, until he had a dream. It was just like the day in the common room after the House Cup Match, when he and Romilda had first kissed, only this time it wasn't Romilda who was running toward him. It was Ginny, with this amazingly beautiful blazing look in her eyes. She threw her arms around him, and before he could even think about it, he kissed her. It just felt so...right. He woke with a start, and could almost taste Ginny's lips on his. Harry looked over to see Romilda still snoring away on the camp bed. He tried to go back to sleep, but he just couldn't get the dream, or how beautiful Ginny was out of his mind. He'd never really noticed before, but now, he wanted nothing more than to see her again, even if she hated him. Maybe, he thought, if he changed the way he treated her, maybe they could be friends again.

He chuckled to himself. Yesterday, the thought of being friends with Ginny Weasley would have made him cringe. It truly was amazing what a blow to the head could do to change a bloke's perspective on things.


End file.
